Parents' Evening
by Snavej
Summary: Mai Taniyama never intended to become a teacher. But now that she was one, she loved her job. Now in her first term of teaching, she faces her first Parents' Evening. [Slice of life, mairu]
1. Chapter 1

Mai never intended to become a teacher. After she finished university, she turned away from research. She did not fancy working in an office either.

It had been a friend at university that had suggested teaching.

Mai looked into it and in the end, decided to go with it. There were a few good teacher training schemes and with a bit of help from the university careers department, Mai got a place.

It took two years to train, including several months of practicals in school. If she had been worried at first, the practicals set her mind at rest. The first time she managed to help a struggling kid really _get_ the maths they were learning that day… She lived off that high for a week.

She decided to specialise in primary schools. Mai knew a lot of people saw this as a cop out. Younger kids were supposed to be _easy_. But she also knew that if kids hated school before they hit secondary, then they would continue to hate it. She wanted to set them up well for the rest of their school career.

And she was _good_ at it. She graduated the training scheme top of her class and was offered a place teaching Year 2, or ages 6-7, at a nice school.

She started alongside another new teacher, who was taking Year 1, ages 5-6. The headteacher insisted that the two young ladies work together when not teaching and Mai had no complaints.

Masako Hara looked like a princess in Mai's opinion. Mai thought some of the kids thought so too. The kids idolised her and Masako played off it.

The school year started and everything went well. Not all the time. There were tantrums. Timmy couldn't do fractions. Alice struggled with spelling. James decided to eat the classroom plant…

But Mai persevered.

Everyone did better with fractions after she bought in a cake and cut it up into pieces. Eating the cake definitely helped.

Mai asked for Alice to get tested for dyslexia and found her specialised help when the result was positive.

Masako bought her a new classroom plant and she placed it a lot higher up this time.

Her first big challenge was going to be Parents' Evening.

"I'm dreading it," Mai muttered in the staffroom. She sipped at her tea and glanced around at her colleagues, no one else looked worried. Gits.

"You'll be fine," Masako insisted. "At least you don't have Mr and Mrs Hilton coming… Don't get me wrong, I love all my kids, but Jack plays up a lot because he does not get enough attention at home and I am going to have to face them and not shout at them for being incompetent parents."

"Oh please do," Mai replied. "Then I'll look better by comparison."

Masako laughed.

"We'll be fine."

"Yeah, I hope so."

That night, Mai set up her table in the school hall with all the other teachers. Masako was to her right, a couple of metres away. Now all they could do was wait for the parents to arrive.

She had her schedule of parents on her left. The stack of reports on each child on her right. A pile of sample work on the chair next to her. Mai took a deep breath and smiled as the first set of parents took a seat opposite her. She knew these ones. She recognised most of the parents from seeing the children off at the end of each school day.

She ticked them off on her schedule, grabbed the report on their kid and began to praise them.

Mai really had an easier job than the teachers of the older years. With younger kids, they were constantly learning, even if it wasn't technically school related stuff, so there was always something good to say. Mai liked to pick up on other life skills, like how Terry and George had deliberately included Phillip, the notoriously shy kid, in their football game at break time.

She had a short break after the first ten sets of parents, and Mai used the time to pee and grab another cup of tea. When she returned to her table, a lone parent was already waiting.

"Hello, you must be—"

"Dr Oliver Davis."

Mai forced a smile. It was a shame really. This man could have been a model if he did not look so bored.

"Yes, you are Millie's—"

"Amelia's uncle," he said.

"Yes," Mai said. "I wanted to ask about that, she does refer to you as her father…?"

"Her parents died when she was a baby. I formally adopted her when my parents could not."

"I see, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Can we get on with this?"

"Of course," Mai said, maintaining her forced smile as she picked up Millie's report. "Mi— Amelia has been doing very well. She's excelling in English and Maths, I have no concerns about her development there. She has a lot of friends. She's never caused me any trouble and is very helpful. Sometimes a little too helpful, but I am not complaining. She doesn't seem to be enjoying History. We've been looking at the Great Fire of London and to be honest, I think she's bored by it."

Mai looked to Dr Davis for some kind of reaction.

"She is," he said. "She's been reading about the Aztecs and the ancient Egyptians at home."

"Interesting," Mai said, noting it down. "Perhaps I can try and cover some of that next term…" she added, more to herself than anyone else. "Okay, well she's doing very well with using computers, I presume she has access to one at home?"

"Yes," Dr Davis replied. "I bought her her own laptop when she started school. She likes to show her grandparents how to use computers."

Mai laughed.

"That's wonderful. What else do I have here." She flipped the piece of paper over. "She likes singing in Music, I think Moana is her favourite—"

Dr Davis groaned.

"Yes," he said. "It is."

"You don't appreciate it?"

"After several months of her singing the same song, over and over again? No, I do not appreciate it."

Mai laughed again.

"I'm sure she'll move on as soon as the next Disney film comes out. But she can at least, sing reasonably well."

"Yes, she did not get that from my brother."

Mai continued reading down her report.

"Her coordination is very good in P.E., she is good at team sports and is also one of the faster runners in the class. Finally, Art… I have a slight concern about her art…"

"What?" Dr Davis frowned.

"She does very well, she enjoys her art classes as far as I can tell," Mai said. "But she never wants to take her pictures home. Do you know why that is?"

"Perhaps she wants it put up at school?" Dr Davis suggested.

"That is what I thought at first," Mai agreed. "But… Perhaps if I show you, you might see why I am concerned."

She leant down and picked up a painting from the pile of sample work. She turned it around and placed it on the table between herself and Dr Davis. She watched as Dr Davis studied the piece.

It consisted of three stick figures. On the left was a tall man with black hair and blue eyes. It was labelled 'Dad'. Next to it was a short girl with dark hair and green eyes. It was labelled 'Me'. Finally there was a medium sized woman with brown hair and brown eyes. It was labelled 'Mis Taneeyamer'. One of the better misspellings of Mai's surname.

The three figures were holding hands.

"Ah."

Mai looked up to see Dr Davis grimace.

"Ah?" Mai prompted.

"I feared this would come up," he said, sitting back. "Amelia does not have a mother figure in her life. I do not date and my mother is definitely stuck in the grandmother role. I think she has latched onto you, as a female role model…"

"I see," Mai said.

"She has also suggested that I marry you," Dr Davis said. "So that you can be her mother properly."

Mai blushed. She could not help it.

"I'm flattered."

"I will speak with her, it is inappropriate."

"Don't be cross with her, it was only a matter of time before one of my kids called me 'Mum'," Mai insisted with a smile. "Miss Hara will be gutted that I beat her to it."

"Yes, but it is still inappropriate. Is that all?"

"Unless you have any questions?"

"No, as long as Amelia is happy, then I am." Dr Davis smiled, more to himself than to Mai. "I will speak with her."

"Thank you."

He left and was replaced by another set of parents. Mai took a deep breath and started again.

* * *

The bell rang.

"Break time," Mai called. "Everyone put your books in your drawers before you go, no running until you're in the playground!"

The class exploded into chaos as the children hurried to put their stuff away and sprint off. Mai called a few more half-hearted 'don't run' comments that were all thoroughly annoyed. She smiled after her class and then turned back to her own desk. She needed to get everything ready for Maths after break.

But someone was waiting by her desk.

"Millie, what's wrong?" Mai asked.

Millie bit her lip and shuffled her feet. She mumbled something that Mai did not catch. Mai took a seat and turned to face her student.

"Please speak up, Millie, I'm old," she said softly.

"Why won't you marry my Dad?" Millie blurted.

Mai's eyes widened.

"Well—"

"Don't you think he's nice?"

"Of course I think he's nice," Mai said quickly. "But people get married when they love each other."

"And you don't love him?" Millie frowned. "Why not?"

"Well," Mai said calmly, "I don't know him very well. Do you love people you don't know very well?"

Millie thought about this for a moment.

"No," she concluded. "Not really."

"Do you understand?"

"So you need to know him better," Millie said, beaming. "Thank you, Miss Taniyama!"

She raced off before Mai could correct her. Mai groaned and put her head in her hands.

"What's wrong with you?"

Mai sat up to see Masako standing in the doorway.

"You know Millie Davis?" Mai asked. Masako nodded. "She wants me to be her mum and marry her uncle who is basically her dad because her real parents died when she was a baby."

"Sounds like something out of a tragic love story," Masako muttered. "Is he attractive?"

"Yes— I mean, he's one of the parents I can't—"

Masako cut her off with a laugh.

"He can be a parent and attractive," she said. "Nothing wrong with that. What did you tell Millie?"

"That I didn't know him well enough to marry him and now she thinks I just need to get to know him better."

"Oh… That's going to be awkward. Want a cup of tea?"

"Yes."

It was awkward too. That afternoon, when the parents came to collect their children, Millie hung around. Usually, she would spot Dr Davis's car and run off. Today, she stood next to Mai and waited, even after the familiar car parked up.

"Millie, aren't you going to—"

"No," Millie replied. "I'll wait here. Car parks are dangerous."

"That's very sensible of you," Mai said diplomatically. "But he is parked next to the path."

"I don't want to get run over."

Mai could not argue with this. She was pulled into a conversation with James's mother — no he had not eaten any more plants — for a few minutes, and when that ended, Mai realised Millie was still waiting next to her.

"You're going to be the last person, Millie?" she prompted.

"Oh well!"

She was the last student. Dr Davis continued to wait in his car. Mai looked between the two of them and sighed.

"Do you want me to walk you over there?"

"Yes please!"

Mai walked down the path with Millie toward Dr Davis's car. Dr Davis saw her coming and got out of the car, frowning.

"Amelia, why have you dragged Miss Taniyama over here?" he asked, frowning.

"So she can get to know you better!"

"Get in the car."

Millie obliged.

"I'm sorry," Mai said quickly. "She asked why I didn't want to marry you and I said because I didn't know you very well and…"

"I see. I did speak with her about this but…" Dr Davis sighed. "I'll try again."

"Thank you."

* * *

 **Author's note: So this was supposed to be a oneshot but now it's three chapters eugh. It's a bit slice of life-y but I hope you all enjoy it :) Please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Dr Davis's attempts did not work. Neither, apparently, did his mother's.

"I asked my mother to speak to her, but she only encouraged it," Dr Davis said with a scowl.

Millie had insisted Mai walk her to the car again. It was the third time that week.

"Encouraged it?"

"Yes."

"Surely she sees that it's—

"My mother is convinced I am lonely. She keeps offering to babysit so that I can date." Mai grimaced at the way he spat the word 'date'. "I barely have the time to give Amelia the attention she needs, I don't have time for dating."

"Perhaps you should accept some of the babysitting offers to take time for yourself. That could be what's worrying Millie. Kids pick up on these things a lot. Perhaps you need to spend some time with some friends or something?"

Dr Davis didn't say anything as he absorbed this notion.

"I promised my brother I would care for Amelia, I need to do that to the best of my ability."

"Dr Davis, you can't look after someone else if you don't look after yourself first."

"I'll see you soon," he said dismissively as he climbed into the car.

Mai watched them go, and waved at Millie when she looked back.

"Is that him?"

Mai jumped. Masako had crept up on her.

"Yes."

"You should jump on that."

"You should keep your mouth shut. He just needs a night off I think. I think he's worried he's not doing a good enough job of being a parent."

"Most parents worry about that."

"Yeah, but it's not his kid he'll screw up, it's his dead brother's? There is some definite guilt there."

"Nothing a good shag wouldn't cure…"

Mai punched Masako on the arm.

* * *

The following week did nothing to improve the situation. Dr Davis gave up waiting, and instead came and collected Millie from the crowd of students. A few times, they managed to leave without having a conversation with Mai first.

The week after that, things really nosedived.

Dr Davis requested a meeting with Mai.

"So you wanted to speak to me?"

"Amelia has been wetting the bed," he started with no preamble. "She has not done this since she first started school. I am concerned that this is because of her thoughts regarding us."

Mai frowned.

"Why do you think this?"

"I had a chat with her and I think she thinks that our lack of friendship is a reflection upon her."

"Oh…" Mai bit her lip.

"And that the reason I do not have a lot of friends is because I have to look after her, even though she is not my real daughter."

"She said that?"

"Words to that effect."

"Okay, how would you like to deal with this?" Mai asked. "I am here to support you both, I just want what is best for Millie."

"I was hoping that at least in front of her, we could assume some kind of friendship. I'll make an effort to come and greet you when I collect her."

"You don't think that will encourage her?"

"I will tell her that I just want to be friends before I even think about things like marriage and I hope that by the time she moves up next year, she'll have moved on from this. I will also make more effort with my other acquaintances."

"Okay then," Mai said, forcing a smile.

And so they tried it. Dr Davis came and spoke with Mai after school every day. She learnt a little more about him. He worked at the university. He liked drinking tea. He spent his weekends coming up with science experiments for Millie to do.

He reported that Millie stopped wetting the bed.

All was going well, for a few weeks. Until one day Dr Davis did not pick Millie up from school.

"Uncle Lin!" Millie shouted, beaming. "Uncle Lin, over here!"

Mai watched as the tallest man she'd ever met walked towards her.

"Hello," he said in a deep voice. "Noll asked me to pick Amelia up today. I'm a family friend."

"Where is he?" Mai asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, quite. His mother set him up on a blind date."

"Oh…"

"He's going to marry Georgie and she's going to be my mum!" Millie said, beaming.

"That's lovely," Mai said.

"It's just a date, Amelia," Lin insisted. "Come on, Madoka is cooking dinner for us today."

"Yay!"

Mai watched as Millie took Lin's hand and dragged him away without so much as a backwards glance.

"You look devastated."

"Thanks, Masako."

"What happened? Who was that?"

"Dr Davis's friend. He's looking after Millie for the evening."

"That's nice of him."

"Dr Davis is going on a date."

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh my, you actually like him! Don't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I can't date a parent."

Mai turned away and walked back towards her classroom. Masako followed.

"Sure you can, I mean I would wait until Millie is in Year 3, but there is nothing stopping you dating him."

"It's unprofessional."

Mai began to tidy her desk. Masako took a seat.

"Okay well let's go out this Friday. We'll find you some man action."

"Eww, no."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Damn, you really like him, don't you?" Masako asked in a soft voice.

"Yes! Okay! Yes, I like him. He's handsome and he's clever and he cares so much about Millie and she kept talking about us getting married and a little part of me was starting to think that maybe… Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to end up with someone like him."

Masako jumped up and gave Mai a quick hug.

"Okay, then instead of going out looking for a man, we'll go out and just have some fun. It's almost Christmas, we should celebrate surviving our first terms as the best teachers this school has ever seen."

Mai laughed.

"Okay then."

* * *

"Okay this cocktail is called a Mai-Tai and I had to get it for you," Masako insisted.

"What is in it?"

"I saw a lot of rum go into it?"

"Wonderful," Mai said. She picked up the drink and sucked at the straw. "Damn that is strong!"

"Yeah," Masako agreed with a smile. "Want to dance after this?"

"Yes, dancing sounds fun," Mai said, she glanced around at the growing crowd.

"You're distracted, who are you looking for? Does Dr Davis dance?"

"What?" Mai flushed red. "No. Don't be ridiculous."

"What happened the day after his date?" Masako asked.

Mai groaned and downed the rest of her drink.

"That bad?"

"He didn't act like anything had changed," Mai mumbled. "He doesn't like me like that obviously."

"Okay then," Masako said, and downed her own drink, "Come on, let's dance."

"Eugh, do we have to?"

"I did not drag you here for you to mope."

"But—"

"If you don't come and dance with me, I'm going to phone Dr Davis—" Masako began to threaten.

"What? You can't do that! How did you get his number?"

"From the files? Duh?"

Mai's mouth dropped. Masako pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Masako! That is so ill—"

"Okay I'm going to text him now—"

"Fine! I'll dance!"

And she did. The two young women danced late into the night. Mai did not drink any more alcohol, the rum cocktail had been quite enough for one evening. Masako's attempts at distracting Mai were thoroughly successful and they left the club laughing.

They walked all the way home, oblivious to the dangers of the night and lucky enough not to be troubled by them.

Mai fell into bed and kicked her shoes off. She tried to undress without having to get up again, which turned out to be more trouble than it was probably worth. She gave up after a while, flicked her bedroom light off and went to bed in her underwear.

* * *

Mai raked her hair into a high bun and slipped on her boots. Her eyeliner from the previous night was smudged nicely around her eyes and matched her favourite pyjamas well.

She didn't need to dress up for a trip to the supermarket.

Mai drove to the supermarket, parked up, grabbed a trolley and headed inside. With only a little over a week before Christmas, the supermarket was heaving. People everywhere were stocking up as if the apocalypse was nigh. The shops would shut for maybe two days at Christmas, and the population acted as if the world was about to end.

Mai decided not to stress it. She had nowhere to be for the rest of the day. She could take her time. She winded down the fruit and veg, toiletries, cereal and tinned goods aisles, weaving in and out of other trolleys and excited children. There was only one week of school left after all.

She turned into another aisle, this one full of pasta and noodles. Mai grabbed a couple of packets and made to move on—

Small arms reached around her waist and squeezed tight.

"Miss Taniyama! They let you out of school!"

"Hello Millie," Mai said, beaming down at her student. "What do you mean? Of course they let me out of school."

"Auntie Madoka said all the teachers live in the cupboards at school!"

Millie grinned up at Mai, not letting go of her until—

"Amelia, let go of— Oh, Miss Taniyama."

Mai looked up to see Dr Davis walking towards them with a trolley of his own. She hastily reached into her own trolley and moved some vegetables to hide the box of tampons.

"Dad, look! Miss Taniyama doesn't live in a cupboard like Auntie Madoka said! The headteacher lets her out too!"

"Amelia, you really shouldn't listen to everything Auntie Madoka says," Dr Davis said. "Now let go of Miss Taniyama."

Millie let go, but stayed by Mai's side.

"What type of pasta are you getting, Miss Taniyama?"

"I was thinking rigatoni."

"Which one is that?"

Millie turned to the wall of pasta before her and began reading out the names of all the pastas.

"Fu-silly, ma-ca-ron-ee…"

"I'm sorry," Dr Davis said quickly to Mai.

"Don't be, this isn't the first time one of my kids has seen my outside of school. I'm just glad it's not a repeat of the lingerie incident."

Dr Davis raised an eyebrow and Mai elaborated.

"I was in Marks and Sparks, purchasing some new underwear and Terry was shopping with his father in the same department." Mai grimaced at the memory. "Apparently it was his parent's wedding anniversary soon. He then proceeded to ask me all about my underwear choices and his father did nothing to stop him…"

"Pasta, by comparison, is not so bad then?"

"No."

"Found it!"

Millie reached up and grabbed two packets of rigatoni pasta. She put one in Mai's trolley and the other in Dr Davis's.

"I thought you wanted bow tie pasta?" Dr Davis asked.

"But Miss Taniyama is having this one and I want to try it too!"

"Okay then," he agreed exasperatedly. "Come on then, we better let Miss Taniyama get on with her own shopping."

"Miss Taniyama," Millie said, ignoring her uncle, "What are you doing for Christmas? We're going to see my Grandma and Grandpa. Are you going to see yours?"

"No, my grandparents are dead."

"Oh. What about your normal parents?"

"They're dead too."

"Are they in the ground? Like my ones?" Millie asked.

"Amelia—"

"It's fine," Mai insisted to Dr Davis. "Yes, Millie, my parents are buried in the ground."

"Are they in the ground with my parents? Maybe they're friends there."

"Maybe they are," Mai agreed with a smile.

"Will you be with the other teachers?"

"No, the other teachers have their own families."

"But you don't?"

"No."

"So you're all alone?" Millie frowned, evidently quite concerned.

"Yes, but it's okay. Because after the holidays we go back to school and then I have all my students again."

"Oh… You'll miss us?"

"Of course I'll miss you!" Mai insisted. "But you've all been working hard all term, so you deserve a break."

"Why don't you come and have Christmas with us?"

"Because I'm not part of your family," Mai explained in a gentle voice. "But that's okay, you've got to have lots of fun so you can tell me all about it when you get back, okay?"

Millie nodded, although she did not look completely happy about it. Dr Davis stepped in at this point.

"Come on, Amelia, we've got lots more things to get. Can you find me some green pesto?"

Millie looked around, grinned at her uncle and then scampered off, calling "Bye Miss Taniyama!" as she did so.

"Thank you," Mai said. "That was edging into dangerous territories."

"She likes you a lot," Dr Davis said. "I think she's as worried about you as she is about me…"

"She cares a lot," Mai agreed. "Well, I'll let you get on, it was nice to see you. If I don't see you again, then have a good Christmas."

"You too."

Dr Davis half smiled her way, then walked on. Mai sighed and strode in the other direction. She spent the rest of her trip at the supermarket avoiding Dr Davis and Millie. She was concentrating so hard on avoiding them that she almost left without buying Christmas cards for all her kids.

* * *

 **Author's note: Does anyone know where I can find a guide on how to make friends, how to determine what level of friendship that person is and then how to keep them, please share? A lot of people say I write Oliver well and I think it's just because I'm as bad at people as he is... I'm Oliver and I spend my life wishing I was Mai...**


	3. Chapter 3

The last day of term was a Friday. Mai and Masako joined their classes together for the day so that everyone could watch Christmas films and play games. Many of the students had brought in gifts or cards for their teachers and so they piled them under the small Christmas tree in the corner of the classroom.

Mai held back a groan when she saw the large box Millie carried in. It was the size of a large shoebox and Mai dreaded to think what was inside.

The day was full of sugar and laughing. Mai and Masako had put 'team building' into the lesson plans and tried to bring some educational games in where possible.

They waved their students off at the end of the day with the odd tear. Millie accosted Mai and pulled her down so she could whisper in her ear.

"Don't open your present until you get home!"

She then ran off in the direction of Dr Davis's car.

Mai smiled after her, rather bemused. She saw off the last of her students and then walked with Masako back to the classroom. They sorted their various gifts, chatting all the while.

"...wanted to go to France again but Mum insisted we stay home this year. I think it's because her sister has been ill but Dad's still disappointed," Masako rambled. "He likes skiing. Or rather, he likes to pretend he's skiing. I think really he likes the snow and drinking."

Mai laughed and picked up her haul.

"I've never been skiing."

"Really? We should go, maybe February half term?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"What is that giant box?"

"A present from Millie," Mai said. "It's kind of heavy. I dread to think what's inside."

"You better tell me."

"Of course I'll tell you!" Mai said. "As long as you get that door for me…"

Once the two teachers had loaded up their cars, they hugged and bid each other farewell for the holidays. Mai climbed into her car and wiped away a tear. She was going to miss Masako, and her kids.

She drove home without the radio on and lugged everything up to her apartment in silence.

Mai set all her gifts down under her two foot tall tree and smiled. She took a picture and sent it to Masako before heading to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

When she returned to her living room, now with a cup of tea, Mai did not notice that anything was wrong for a good few minutes. She had flicked on her TV and was looking through the guide for something suitably entertaining to watch — the news was too depressing for this moment but maybe Come Dine With Me would be funny — when she saw it out of the corner of her eye.

Millie's present had opened.

Mai slowly put down her tea and leant forwards to get a better look. It had indeed been a wrapped shoebox and whatever had been inside had now escaped.

"Oh fuck…"

Mai doubled checked the box. She picked it up and looked inside, underneath where it had been and all around. She then checked the picture she had taken. The present had definitely been wrapped and closed.

"Fuck. No Mai, bad word, don't say fuck."

She took a deep breath and began to search her apartment methodically. It can't be that bad. Whatever it is, can't be that—

"Ahhhhh!"

Mai screamed as something touched her legs. She ran into her bedroom and shut the door quickly behind her.

"What the fuck was that? Where is my phone?"

But she had dropped it in her haste to run. Mai looked around for a weapon. The best she had were a pair of heels.

"Fuck."

Mai steeled herself and crept out. She just needed to get her phone. Then she could call for help.

"Oh."

She did not need help. She could see exactly what Millie's present had been. It was currently lapping at her tea with a large note attached to its collar.

Mai let her shoulders sag in relief. She walked up to the fluffy grey cat and detached the note. The cat looked warily up at Mai for a moment and then returned to drinking the tea.

The note read: _Dear Miss Taneeyamar, this is Luna. Now you wont be lonely! Dont tell Dad! Love from Millie!_

Mai groaned.

"Oh Millie…"

Mai put the note down and sweeped the cat up into her arms.

"Let's find you some food, and then we'll get you home."

She noted the tag on Luna's collar. It had a phone number. Mai found a tin of bone free cooked salmon and tipped it out onto a plate for the cat. Luna ate it greedily while Mai retrieved her phone from where she dropped it.

Mai typed in the phone number and hit 'phone'. She put it on speakerphone and waited for someone — presumably Dr Davis — to pick up.

"Hello, Oliver Davis speaking, who is this?"

"Hi, Dr Davis, this is Miss Taniyama, from Amelia's school?"

"Ah, Miss Taniyama, did Amelia forget something?"

Mai grimaced.

"Well, sort of, yes. She gave me a present today and it just escaped into my flat and I think you ought to come and collect it."

Dr Davis's tone changed abruptly.

"What did she do?"

"You have a cat, right? Grey fluffy thing called Luna?"

"Yes."

"Well Luna is eating a tin of salmon on my kitchen countertop right now…" Mai heard Dr Davis breathe in and out heavily. "Millie put a note on her collar saying that I wouldn't be lonely now."

Another heavy breath.

"I can't even be mad, she was trying to be nice to you," Dr Davis muttered finally. "I'll come and collect Luna now, I apologise for Amelia. Eugh. I can drop her off at my parents."

"There's no rush," Mai said quickly. "I can text you my address?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Dr Davis hung up.

Mai texted the address, saved his number to her phone, and then snapped a picture of Luna to send to Masako along with a detailed explanation.

Dr Davis arrived half an hour later looked rather harassed.

"Amelia is quite upset with you," he said as he entered Mai's flat.

"Why?"

"Because she said her note told you not to tell me, and the first thing you did was tell me…"

Mai had the grace to look ashamed of herself.

"Well, she's your cat, I thought you'd be worried!"

Dr Davis sighed.

"Luna is an outdoors cat usually, if I didn't see her for a day or two I wouldn't be too surprised. It was quite a clever plan on Amelia's part."

"Well I think it was very sweet of her," Mai said.

"Yes, I just wonder what happened to the chocolates she originally bought you," Dr Davis replied.

Mai laughed.

"Would you like a drink?"

"I should be getting back," Dr Davis said, looking away. "I shouldn't be imposing on you."

"You're not," Mai said quickly. "But anyway, Luna is in the living room, come with me."

They found Luna where Mai had left her, curled up on the sofa. Dr Davis lifted the cat into his arms and smiled at the animal.

"You've been on quite the adventure, hmm?"

"I have no idea how we didn't realise she was in that box all day."

"Yes, I imagine if the RSPCA found out, they would lock Amelia up for cruelty, perhaps I will tell her that. Luckily, Luna seems to be okay."

"She's a very chilled out cat," Mai commented.

"Yes, quite. I got her years ago, before I had Amelia, to convince my mother that I was fine on my own."

"Perhaps I should get a cat of my own to convince Millie," Mai mused.

"Or you could come to dinner," Dr Davis blurted.

He was looking away.

"I…"

"I think Amelia would forgive you for ratting on her if you did."

"I wouldn't want to impose on you like that."

"You wouldn't be. Not if you wanted to come."

"Well… I mean…" Mai's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

"It's okay, you don't have to. I just thought—"

"Can I be honest with you?" Mai blurted.

"Of course."

"I…" Mai closed her eyes and grimaced. "I have a bit of a crush on you." She opened her eyes, but refused to make eye contact. "And I don't think it's a good idea to encourage those feelings. You're a parent and I'm a teacher and Millie already has the wrong idea about our relationship and—"

"You are interested in me… Romantically?"

"Oh jeesh, this is so cringey, I'm so sorry."

"I don't have to pick Amelia up until later, if you'd like to dine just the two of us?"

Mai's eyes widened.

"But you went on that date with that other woman. Millie told me all about it!"

"Yes, because I thought you weren't interested. It went rather badly."

"But you're a parent! I can't date a parent!"

"Technically, I'm an uncle so—"

"But—"

"Just dinner," Dr Davis insisted.

"Dr Davis—"

"You can call me Oliver, you know."

"Oliver, oh fuck. Okay, just dinner then. Let me grab my jacket."

Mai scurried around for her jacket, keys and wallet. She followed Oliver and Luna out of the door and locked up.

"Masako is going to have so much fun if she finds out about this…"

"Masako?"

"The Year 1 teacher, she started at the same time as me."

"Ah. Well, come on then Miss Taniyama."

Mai laughed.

"You can call me by my first name too."

"I don't actually know your first name."

Mai laughed again as they reached Oliver's car.

"Mai, Mai Taniyama."

"Nice to meet you, Mai."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Oliver."

* * *

Dinner was successful. So they had another. They hid their relationship from Millie. She thought her father was going out with other friends. But after school, Mai and Oliver maintained the air of friendship that Millie had come to expect.

This continued for the rest of the school year.

As did Millie's attempts to set them up.

She forged a Valentine's Day card from her uncle to her teacher and gave it to Mai. Mai had shared it with Oliver that evening, and they had laughed about it.

"I'll save this for when she's older," Oliver had said. "She'll be mortified."

Millie also gave Mai an Easter Egg, supposedly from her uncle. Mai had accepted it and shared it with the class, much to Millie's annoyance.

The only other people that knew about Oliver and Mai's relationship were Masako, and Lin and Madoka, who often babysat. Mai did not want to gossip train at school cluing into the fact she was shacking up with a parent...

So when the Summer Holidays finally started, and Millie was no longer one of Mai's students. Oliver took some time off work and vowed to take Millie out for the day. Mai just so happened to be at the Natural History Museum at the same time.

And they just so happened to bump into each other in the Dinosaur Exhibit. And no one complained when Millie suggested Mai should walk around with them. And when Millie suggested that Mai hold Oliver's hand because dinosaurs were scary, Mai agreed wholeheartedly, as long as she could hold Millie's hand too.

"But I'm not scared," Millie declared, running off to watch the animatronics.

Once they were out of the Dinosaur Exhibit, Mai asked another question of Millie.

"Can I let go now?" She held up their entwined hands. "Now that it's not scary anymore."

"Uhhh…" Millie's eyes widened in momentary panic. "No! No you can't because you might get lost!"

"What about you though?" Mai asked. "Won't you get lost if I don't hold your hand?"

"No, I'm a big girl, I don't get lost."

Mai stifled a laugh.

"Where do you want to go next then?" Oliver asked.

"Fossils! Auntie Madoka said some of the fossils are as old as you Dad, is that true?"

"Some of them are even older," Oliver said. "Some of them are as old as Auntie Madoka."

"That's so old…"

* * *

They spent several more days together over the summer holidays. Mai even babysat a few days, so that Oliver did not use up too much of his annual leave and did not impose too much on his own parents.

On one of these occasions, Mai asked Millie an important question.

"Millie?"

"Hmm." She did not pause from her colouring in.

"Would you like it if I lived with you and your Dad?"

"Well it would be silly if you got married to him and didn't live here."

"We're not getting married yet," Mai said gently. "But we thought it'd be a good idea to try living together to see if we'd like to get married."

"Oh no, Dad wants to marry you. He told me," Millie said knowingly. "He said I can be a bridesmaid too. And that way you won't have to live in a cupboard at school all the time."

Mai almost choked.

"He said that, did he?"

"Oh yes. But Dad said that he was worried it was too soon to ask so he's going to wait to ask you properly. He's silly like that."

"Getting married is a big decision," Mai said. "He's right not to rush into it."

"But he loves you. And you love him, right?"

"I— Yes. I do."

"So I don't see why there is a problem. Grown ups are rubbish."

Mai decided to leave it at that.

* * *

Mai moved in with Oliver and Millie before the end of the Summer Holidays. When school started again, Millie cried when she realised she'd have a new teacher. But Mai assured her that Mr Brown was a good teacher and that she'd learn lots from him.

Millie didn't like it one bit.

Until Mr Brown told Millie in confidence that he thought that Mai and Oliver should get married. It had been Mai's suggestion. And as soon as Millie considered Mr Brown part of Team Get Mai and Oliver Married, things went much smoother.

They went even better when Mr Brown did a whole series of lessons on different marriage celebrations from around the world. He did have a degree in Religious Studies after all…

* * *

Oliver proposed exactly one year after the Luna incident. Mai said yes. Millie was overjoyed.

Mai cried with happiness when Millie started calling her 'Mum'.

They married the following summer in a fairytale-like wedding. Millie's idea of course. Mai formally adopted Millie as part of the process.

And they lived happily ever after.

* * *

 **Author's note: Last chapter! This was another "this was going to be a oneshot" story so... Please review :)**


End file.
